Agents: New Lives
by Stormhawk
Summary: Greer learns the ropes as agent and a war brews between two exile factions.
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** New lives: Chapter One

**Author:** Stormhawk

**Rating:** PG-13 Rather heavy, but not R-worthy.

**Disclaimer: **

Matrix Wachowski Brothers and Warner Brothers

ATS Me

Stef, Darth, Vamp duo Me

Pix Pixel

Greer Vin, Grimoires, Motoki, Divelle Overlord Mordax

**Word Count:** 16932

**Summary:** Greer learns to deal with being an agent, and adopts a whole new personality, a more extroverted one. Meanwhile, a war is brewing among the exiles.

**Notes:** I know this took a long time, I'm sorry. Blame the fact I was finishing off and betaing the novel (Again, my eternal thanks Alo, that work you did was more than phenomenal)

Like most of you know already, Mordy gave me a basic character arc of what's going to happen with Greer/Vin in Season 3, but I've had to come up with 98 of the details, and choosing to go in my own directions with some ideas, and putting more emphasis on others. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new side of Greer.

GOTO and Review.

0101010

Greer felt woozy as he walked down the Agency hall. He almost felt as though he was having trouble walking, having trouble keeping his balance.

Death, it would seem, has an effect on equilibrium.

But it wasn't only that, he felt like a newborn. Everything was so bright and shiny and new, he was seeing the world through new eyes.

Which, in all fairness, he was.

Suddenly, he pitched off to the left, but Stef caught him before he fell. "Watch your footing, it's a bit disorientating. I fell over three times in my first five minutes."

"So this is what you are as well?"

"Yeah, you know…" she cut herself short, "oh yeah, you don't remember anything…"

"Nothing after getting shot while we were going after Yami."

"It's ok, I'm sure you can catch up on pretty much everything. But yeah, I'm just like you."

"Well that's one question answered."

"You got another one?"

"Where are we going?"

"Right here," she said as she pushed open the door to the conference room.

He blinked in the bright light, and saw Agents Smith and Brown standing across the room. Brown looked angry, not unusual, and like he had been in the middle of saying something.

He grinned and mockingly saluted, "Agent Greer reporting for duty sirs."

"Welcome Agent Greer," Smith said as everyone sat.

"This is unacceptable," Brown snarled as soon as he sat.

"I'm just getting used to it myself," he said with a grin, "I feel rather odd."

"There was only one slight problem," Stef said quietly.

"And that is?" Smith asked.

"Three months memory loss, he doesn't remember what happened."

"What…happened?" he asked as he noticed the changes in the other agents' expressions.

"You went insane," Brown said as his lip curled, "you murdered civilians, and the Edmund twins, there was no basis for bringing you back. I refuse to accept two of them in this agency!" he yelled as he thumped his hand on the desk.

"Did you say the Edmund twins? Weren't they dead already? How could I kill them?"

"They were trapped, and part of them came back, you destroyed them," Smith reported calmly. "You can see the file footage later."

"I want one of them transferred," Brown growled, "one liability is enough here. It is unimaginable what would happen what would happen if they both malfunction."

"Don't worry Brown," Stef said calmly, "if Greer doesn't work out you get rid of us both, that's what the Mainframe said."

Brown almost smiled, "that is somewhat more acceptable," he said while he silently planned possible ways to make Greer malfunction.

Smith looked at him, "Greer, now that you are one of us, there are certain things that you must realise, and certain limitations that you must adhere to."

"Since resistance is futile anyway, I'll be glad to."

Smith's eyebrows raised a little, "you now have all the responsibilities of an agent, but Clarke has informed me that you will also be allowed to retain your recruit freedoms, such as your weekly free time."

After the meeting was finished, Greer walked out of the room, "was that a long meeting?" he asked Stef as they walked down the hall.

"We were only in there five minutes."

"I'm just restless I guess. Considering that I've been dead for a month is that strange or normal?"

"I really don't know," Stef said as she shrugged. "It's not like there are a lot of cases to look at."

"Is there anyone else like this?"

"Just us two, but there was another one. Carol Whitman."

"What happened to her?"

"She wasn't as successful as we were," Stef said with a faraway look in her eyes. "Ok, you have to save anything you want from your room before it gets reset."

"I can't keep my room? Why not?"

"You're getting an office instead."

"I can put a bed in my office?"

"You don't need a bed, we don't sleep."

A wry grin crossed his face, "beds aren't only good for sleeping." A look of panic crossed his face, "um…um…about needing a bed, how do I put this…?"

Stef shook her head, "don't pop a subroutine, you're not built like a Ken doll."

"Thank god," he said with a sigh of relief.

"As soon as you can, go see Jones."

"Why?"

"I think he needs to talk to you about a few things."

"Such as?"

"Just trust me and go see Jones," Stef said as he pushed open the door to his room.

"Oh what is that smell?" he asked as he flicked on the light.

"I would guess that you had food left in here. Fuzzy foods are people too."

"Huh?"

"After a certain period of time, fuzzy foods gain sentience and have rights…don't look at me like I'm crazy."

"I'm starting to think this is some kind of strange near-death experience."

"You'll be ok Greer, everything will seem uber-strange for a while, but you'll be fine."

"Vin."

"Huh?"

He flicked on the light and looked around at his room, "Vin, as in short for Vincent, my first name."

"You have a first name? Oh…that's right."

"Call me Vin, I don't want to be called Greer anymore."

"Why?"

"Not quite sure, it doesn't seem to fit me anymore."

"I wouldn't expect Brown or Smith to call you Vin. They'll still call you Greer, or Agent Greer, cause that's what you are now."

010101

"Shut up Cain!" Abel yelled at his brother.

"I'm only saying the truth," Cain said in defence. "You do have fleas."

"I'm gonna…!" the enraged werewolf went silent, "you smell that?"

Cain joined his silence and sniffed the night, "what is that?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't want to stick around and find out."

Abel pulled a key from his pocket and they went through the nearest door. "Do you think…?"

"I'm not sure," Cain replied, "but that smell wasn't right."

"What do you think it was? Shapeshifter?"

"No…even shapeshifters have a distinct smell, I'm not sure what that smelled like."

"You think it was…that thing?"

"Oh you aren't listening to those two are you?"

"The vamps did say that something attacked them, something no one had ever seen before. Their wounds took days to heal and they usually heal in a few seconds."

"You think it's something the system is doing? Some new weapon against us?"

"I think that if it was, it would have done more than attack two lowly-paid vampires who were trying to kill another exile."

"You think she's dead?"

"Well the vamps did collect the reward, or so I heard."

01010101

"Was that them Motoki?"

"Yes Master. Cain and Abel, two of the most stupid programs to ever deform the Matrix."

Grimoires resumed his current favourite human shape, the one that was helping him gain a foothold in this new world.

"And they are typical of your old employer's servants?"

"To a degree, most of his employees are nothing more than dumb muscle for hire, but the ones in his inner circle, and those that contract for him…they can be formidable."

"Has anyone ever tried to challenge his power?" Moires asked as they turned and headed back to his abode.

"No one is stu…" the Japanese exile shut her mouth as she saw Grimoires' eyes flash golden. "No one has tried and succeeded. Whenever someone tries he either destroys them or absorbs them."

"He sounds ruthless," the unique exile said, "but in a human way."

0101010

Vin looked around his room, things seemed so different…and it wasn't only because there were a lot of items that he didn't recognise.

It was probably coming back to life…it was like a new perspective.

_The infinite lives cheat…_he mused, _I guess I've got that now. _

He made sure his door was locked, and went into his bathroom. He stripped, letting the perfect-looking suit fall into a heap and crumple on the floor.

He stopped himself before going into the shower and took a breath. He realised with a start that he hadn't been breathing, he hadn't been bothering to do something every human knew to do instinctively from the moment they were born.

Then again, he wasn't human anymore.

He pulled his hair from the tie and let it spill over his back, getting stuck by the pleasantly warm water.

It was uncomfortable.

Shaking his head, he realised for the first time how much he disliked his long hair. It was annoying, it got in his way, and it was time to get rid of it.

After he finished showering, something he had done in order to have time to think, rather than any actual uncleanliness, he towelled off and required himself into a pair of pants.

He required a full-length mirror and stared at his half-naked form.

Yes. It was defiantly time for a change.

He wasn't a recruit anymore.

He wasn't human anymore.

He wasn't Greer anymore.

Since first awaking in Jones' lab, he had been trying to think of himself as Greer, as that was what he had called himself for so long…it just didn't see to fit anymore.

He required a pair of scissors and swung his hair around, cutting a large chunk of it off before turning back to the mirror and requiring it to an even shorter length, and slightly tidier than what he had done.

Requiring himself back into full uniform, he required his room to reset itself without bothering to save anything.

It was his second life now, his second turn, he didn't need anything from his first life.

He wasn't human anymore, he was better. He wasn't flawed and slow, he was immortal and perfect.

Jones. He had to go see Jones. What for, he had no idea, probably something to do with what he was now.

"Hey!" a voice called from behind him, "you new? I'm…"

The guy stopped speaking as soon as Vin turned around.

"Holy fuck," the recruit said after a moment of shock, "this ain't real."

Vin was confused, "do I know you?"

"Greer?"

Vin nodded, "yes?"

Ken shook his head slowly, "you're dead, you died. Like a month ago."

"So who's the new one?" a female recruit said as she walked up to Ken. She took one look at Vin and promptly fainted.

Ken leant against the wall, "is this a dream or something, you are dead!"

"Not anymore," Vin said with a grin.

"What are you? Zombie? Vampire?"

"Agent."

"That's not possible."

"Why not?"

"Cause…" the recruit was lost for words, "because that doesn't happen."

"So give me another explanation."

"I can't."

"So I guess that means I'm telling the truth."

"You're really Greer? This isn't some kind of trick."

"And what would the purpose of such a trick be?" Stef asked as she walked up behind Vin. "I can assure you that this is Vincent Greer, who you now shall refer to as Agent Greer."

"Why him? A lot of good recruits die, so why him?"

"Recruit Williams, don't question the system," Stef replied coldly.

Ken curled his lip, "does this happen at other agencies?"

"No, it's never happened before."

Vin's eyes flickered, "never?" he asked pointedly.

"Never."

"So he's really an agent now? He just wasn't in some kind of coma?"

Vin smirked, "I can prove it."

"That I would love to see." He turned to Stef. "Would you mind obliging?"

"No problem," she said as she drew her gun and pressed it to his head. "The first time hurts a bit," she whispered, "your code has to get used to it."

"Just shoot me already."

"Ok," she said and pulled the trigger.

His body fell back and then disappeared, he appeared a second later, with no signs of damage.

Ken crossed himself, "holy fuck," he whispered, "you mean, they made you into one of them?"

"Don't get jealous," Greer said with a grin.

"I'm not so much jealous as confused. I…I got to go think about this." He helped the other recruit to her feet and they quickly made their way down the hall.

"Is that reaction normal? They were kind of freaked out."

Stef shrugged, "people handle the news in different ways, that's why I tell as few people as possible."

"Were you looking for me?"

"Jones mentioned you hadn't gone and seen him yet."

"I was going there now, what's with the big stress?"

"Have you looked at the files yet?"

"A wild theory tells me I was pretty bad at the end, I don't really want to go through files without knowing what to expect."

"I think the best person to ask about that would be Jones."

"Up until a few weeks ago…a few weeks ago by my memory, I thought he was stalking me or suspecting I was a traitor, you make it sound like we became friends."

Stef smiled sadly, knowing what heartbreak Jones was going through because of Greer's missing memory, "you were, you two were very good friends. You were very close right up to the end. Jones fought to get permission to bring you back. You really need to go talk to him."

"Katrina," Vin said suddenly, "uh…I'm not sure if I spoke to you about Katrina."

"Oh…it's safe to say I know who Katrina is."

"Yeah?" he asked with a grin, "so what happened? Does she know I…died?"

"Please, go talk to Jones, I don't want to say anything that he doesn't want you hearing yet."

Vin narrowed his eyes, "what do you mean by that?"

"See Jones. Please," she said and shifted away.

Vin shrugged to himself, and walked around to the tech's office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," a small voice called.

He pushed open the door, Jones was sitting in almost a cocoon of monitors. They were on all sides, all displaying different things. "Jones?"

Jones looked up, and several emotions crossed his face before he managed to make it neutral. "Hello Greer."

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Jones said as he required a chair, "please sit."

Vin sat in the chair, and propped his feet up on one of Jones' desk.

Jones took a deep breath, knowing that things were different, and that they probably wouldn't go back to how they were.

"So what can I do for you?"

"Well I am trying to discover if I can restore your memory, I'm sure it can't feel good to have a portion of your life missing."

"It's strange, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything." He shrugged, "you can't miss what you never had right? I'm sure I can make up the lost time, you guys can just tell me what happened right?"

"Being told of events isn't the same as having the memories of them."

"Like going insane?" Vin asked, violence entering his voice, "I'm supposed to miss going completely insane. Miss the memory of killing civilians? I think I can live without those memories."

"Greer…"

"Vin."

Jones looked up, "what?"

"Vin. If you don't mind, that's what I'd like to be called."

"Any particular reason?"

"I like the it, why?"

"Well, so far as I knew, you didn't like anyone calling you by your first name."

"That was before, you know, I died. I feel different, free or something." Vin leant back and thought for a moment, "I told you that I didn't like anyone calling me Vincent?"

"Yes."

"You and I…we were friends in the last three months?"

Unable to say anything for fear of crying, Jones nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything."

"It's fine Gr…Vin. I don't intend on burdening you with a relationship you can't remember."

"Relationship?"

"Friendship."


	2. Chapter Two

**Title:** New lives: Chapter Two

**Author:** Stormhawk

0101010

"Get in here!"

Cain looked over at Two, and then they looked up at the door to Mero's office.

One of the main rules of the chateaux was to go quickly when the boss yelled.

The ghost and werewolf ran into the office. The Merovingian, red-faced and very pissed off, looked up at them. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry boss," they mumbled in unison.

"Where are your brothers?"

Two smirked and looked to Cain who shook his head. "They're getting my Playstation," the ghost replied, "sorry boss, but we were bored."

Mero swivelled his flat panel monitor and showed the bodyguards a grisly image.

"Tell me, in your highly-valued opinion," he started in a sarcastic voice, "what could have done that."

The pair leant closer and looked at the mangled remains of a corpse and on the wall behind it were the words 'new power'.

"Well," Two said, "maybe if you could tell us what it was before it become a pile of guts we could help boss."

"Guys, we've got the…" Abel said as he stuck his head in the door. "Oh…we're working?"

"Just get over here," Mero said as he poured himself a glass of wine.

"What the hell is that?" One asked.

"It's a corpse, and I have no idea what killed it."

010101

There was a short scream, a tearing of flesh, the sound of a creature eating, and then nothing.

Grimoires walked out of the room, and sat near his servant, Motoki.

"Master," Motoki asked, "what are you trying to accomplish by picking off these henchmen one by one?"

"Your old employer…I am playing by his rules, not that I want to, but I have the distinct feeling that it will make more of an impression that way."

"How so?"

Grimoires gave his servant a lingering look and slowly yawned, all in all, just reminding her that he was in possession of an unequalled set of teeth.

Teeth that he did not need much provocation to use.

His old pack, his servants in the old world, had not asked him questions to such a degree, or indeed at all.

So long as they were fed, they had been content.

He had sensed their minds before escaping with Vincent Greer, reeling and tormented by the confusion around them.

He was glad to be rid of them, they were unparalleled hunters but in this new world, it was brains that were needed, not brawn.

And brains was another area where he excelled.

"Master?"

Grimoires blinked slowly and looked up at Motoki. As a servant she was adequate, her fighting skills were formidable, at least by this world's standards.

Her weapons were unconventional, two pairs of scissors, with blades as sharp as razors.

Physically, she was beautiful, by human standards – not by his.

He did enjoy beauty, as most intelligent beings did. His opinion of beauty, however, was radically different and didn't involve the physical characteristics of either gender.

His idea of beauty was fighting prowess, the clarity that is the mind of a hunter, the gracefulness of a perfect kill.

"Motoki, my previous servants were not this bothersome."

"Master, you previous servants were animals."

Grimoires leapt from his satin pillow, a being of coiled muscle and predatory intent, and knocked Motoki to the floor. His huge clawed paw was at her throat, but he hadn't cut her.

"Animals?" he hissed as he brought his cat-like face toward hers, appraising her as a cat does a mouse. "If they were just animals, what does that make me?"

"I meant no disrespect master," the Japanese exile whispered as she felt his claws at her throat. "I never said you were an animal."

"Oh but I am," he purred, "before I became this, I was nothing more than a housecat."

"And I was a system governor!" Motoki cried. "But we aren't those things anymore, are we?"

"I'm going to ask you a question," the beast stated, "and you only get one chance to answer it. If you answer it incorrectly, I will take you in there."

He looked across to the room were he killed most of his prey, the ones that came under the category of 'food' anyway.

"I understand."

"Good. I was an animal, what am I now?"

Motoki was quiet for a good long moment, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and stared up at the golden-eyed cat-lizard. "You are my master."

"Good answer," the monster said with a none-too-comforting smile.

Motoki watched as his form shifted and changed, and less than a minute later, he was in the form of a man he had killed and whose life he had stolen. The man's life was convenient, and suited his purposes.

The man was tall, had white hair despite his relative young age, and had sinewy muscles, though Motoki suspected that they were Grimoires' own embellishment.

And despite his change of form, he had the same smile.

"Are you ready to go to work?" he asked as he fluidly stood.

Motoki got to her feet and placed her scissors in her sheaths, "I'm always ready," she replied with a smile.

010101

Vin walked into the gym, idly surveying the other recruits. It was odd, from what Jones had told him, he hadn't exactly been popular before he had…died. Now the other recruits couldn't seem to take their eyes off him.

Not that he minded, he liked the attention.

Some were a little frightened of him, some were intimidated – knowing he was much stronger than they were. He saw curiosity in their expressions, but none of them had spoken to him yet to ask him anything serious – but there was plenty of time for Q&A – he was immortal now.

He had gained so much by this change, and didn't appear to have lost anything. According to most sets of rules, that didn't make sense – there was always a price.

An equal and opposite price.

But maybe that only applied in the real world, after all, this was the Matrix. Things ran off a different set of rules than in the decaying corpse that was the real world.

Casting aside his jacket and tie, he required himself into the training uniform.

"Hey Greer, why are you training?" Ken called out, "it's not like you need to anymore."

"There's a difference between need and want: Vin replied as he started a kata. His movements were more precise and powerful than they had ever been before. "I bet even Brown trains."

"True."

"But you do not realise the extent of your new power."

Vin's midnight eyes turned toward the door of the gym and saw Stef standing there. "You trying to be mystical with me Obi-Wan?"

She shook her head, mindful that there were recruits around. She didn't want to give them anymore reason to suspect that she was like Greer. "No, but you're a lot more powerful than you were as a human."

"How much more powerful?" he asked as she flexed his muscles and stretched his arms.

"You are stronger than any recruit in this room."

"How about agent-vs-agent?"

She smirked, "you're just a newborn. But you can try."

"So you wanna fight?"

"Don't expect to win," she said as she walked over, "and I'll go easy on you."

"You're going to fight in your suit?" he asked with an arched eyebrow. He indicated to the rest of the people in the gym, "join the club."

"If you insist," she said as she required herself into her training uniform. She was acutely aware that most of the recruits did a double take – this was the first time they had seen her like this.

Or any agent for that matter, as Vin didn't count.

"Much better," he said with a grin and a wink.

They squared off, and walked around the edge of the training mat, appraising each other and looking for any weaknesses to exploit, any drop in defence that would give them the opportunity for the first attack.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the recruits chanted. They had seen agent-vs-recruit, but never agent-vs-agent, and especially not when they were treating it like they were.

Vin winked at Stef and then ran across the mat, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye. He punched wide and she ducked it easily, but instead of ducking to safety, she ducked into his other fist.

Her head snapped back, and she used the movement to flip backward, kicking him before righting herself.

He crouched low, and propelled himself at her, knocking her to the ground. She rolled, swiping his feet from out from under him.

Vin swung his leg over and smashed it down on her chest, knocking the wind from her.

He stood and offered a hand down to her, "I guess round one goes to the newborn."

"I was holding back," she replied nonchalantly, "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Well don't," he said as he punched at her.

She ducked, and brought her elbow back and rammed it into his head, snapping his head to the side. Extending her arm, she wrapped it around his neck and pushed him to the ground.

He grabbed her waist as they fell, pulling her down on top of him as he landed.

They both jumped to their feet and intensified their attacks, punching and kicking faster than what their audience could follow.

The second round ended as Vin kicked Stef across the gym and into the wall.

"You're still going easy on me," he commented as he pulled her out of the wall, "aren't you?"

"That I will let you decide for yourself," she said as she shot her arms out and snapped his neck.

The recruits went quiet as he disappeared and reappeared.

"Ow…" he mumbled as he cracked his neck, "that was overkill don't you think?"

"When the purpose is to win a fight, the method doesn't matter."

"You killed me."

"And yet, here you are, stop stressing. Want to go another round?"

"Nah, there's a couple of other things I need to do first. I might need your help though."

"Ok," she said as she required herself back into her uniform.

"Sorry guys," Vin said to the recruits, "but I'll be back later." He required himself into some casual clothes and walked out of the gym with Stef.

"So what do you need my help with?"

"I want to see my body."

She giggled and poked him in the arm, "your visual subroutines not working?"

He turned to her with no humour whatsoever in his expression, "my dead body. I want to see my corpse."

"Oh…"

"Is it still around somewhere or has it been, I dunno, incinerated?"

"You know, that's one question I never thought to ask Jones. Don't know why, I guess maybe the morbid factor, or maybe I just didn't want to know."

"Did you see yours?"

"No. I was having enough trouble handling what I was without that on my mind as well. But if you want to see yours, I'll see what I can do. Jones will know…"

He grabbed her arm, "could we not involve Jones in this?"

"Sure, I guess, why?"

"Please."

"No problem Greer."

"Vin."

"Vin…I'm not sure if it fits you."

He smiled, "I'm sure I'll grow into it."

"Well, er, Vin, you can let go of my arm now."

He gave her an imploring look, "do I have to?"

"If you want to find your corpse, then ye, and yes on principal anyway."

"But I'm just a newborn, I need something to hold onto."

She required a rattle and shook it in front of his nose, "how about this instead?"

"I think I prefer my first option better," he said but released her arm anyway. "So who else besides Jones will know?"

"The doctor of course."

"Lead on Watson."

She gave him a withering look, "I am no one's sidekick."


	3. Chapter Three

**Title:** New lives: Chapter Three

**Author:** Stormhawk

001010

They had followed the doctor's instructions, and had gone down the elevator to a basement level and were now faced with odd looking hallway.

"Where the hell are we?"

"I have no idea."

They walked down a short hallway and came upon a large, though fairly dim room. It was filled with storage cupboards and metal shelving.

In the centre of the room were three metal trolleys, covered with sheets.

Vin looked at the trolleys, "it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's under those sheets."

"Well you were the one who wanted to see your body, go on, look."

"Which one?"

"Corpse number three," she said coldly, "you were the third one after all."

"You think it'll be decomposed? Crawling with maggots and such?"

"No," she said distinctly.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Smell," she said simply, "there is no smell. If these bodies were decomposing, they would smell. Well, Carol's might be finished decomposing – she's been dead for more than fifty years, but yours is still very fresh."

"Well, all right, I'll trust you. If I lift that sheet and there's a rotting body, you owe me a drink."

"Ok," she whispered. "Let me know what you find," she said as she started back toward the lift.

"Hey wait!" he yelled as he grabbed her arm, "where are you going?"

"This is personal, between you and your corpse."

"Personal, but not something I want to do alone."

"Let me go Greer, I saw it once, and that was enough."

"Vin," he repeated, "why is this freaking you out so much?"

"Because I killed you!" she screamed. A couple of tears slipped down her face, "I killed you."

"Well I pulled though all right."

"That's not the point," she whispered as she wiped the tears away with the back of her sleeve.

Vin let go of her arm and pulled the sheet from his corpse without another moment's hesitation.

The room went silent as the young man looked at his own cold, dead body.

The body was exactly how he had been at the moment of his death. Vin swallowed, it was like a ghost from another lifetime. It was him, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"I look like a monster," he whispered as he looked at the dirty and bloody doppelganger. He turned back to Stef, "I have to know what I did. I have to know what my…I have to know what happened at the end."

"Your power drove you utterly insane, you didn't know what you were doing. You were acting like some kind of deranged monster, you weren't you."

"I don't think I want to see the file footage."

"You have to, but not straight away, I can tell you what happened."

"Please."

"After you killed the Edmund twins, you killed a subway driver and a young girl…she looked somewhat like Yami, so I guess that's why you did that…"

"And then I died?"

"No. Then I killed you! I killed you, we fought and then I shot you. I didn't have a choice but I still killed you." She started to cry again, "there was no guarantee that you were coming back and I killed you. You can't know how guilty I felt."

Vin smiled and pulled the sheet back over the corpse, "you don't have to feel guilty anymore, I'm fine, I made it."

"I'm sorry, I must look stupid, but it's pretty hard to let go of that image. Before that I'd never killed anyone I cared about. Or since then, but you know hat I mean."

A grin lit up Vin's face, "you care about me?"

She nodded, "sure, of course, you know that."

"But I don't, I don't remember half of my life here."

"Jonesy is working on getting your memories back."

Stef looked at Vin's eyes as she said 'Jonesy', looking a flicker or recognition, anything to indicate that he remembered anything.

There was nothing.

Vin shook his head, "why do you call him that?"

"It's just a nickname Gr…Vin. It's his nickname."

"He's a real agent right?"

"Of course."

"Well I knew, it's just…he was giving me some strange looks."

"The fact that you didn't come back…well, with all of your memories intact is kind of having an effect on him."

"Cause he feels like he failed? It's hurt his pride as a tech cause I didn't turn out perfectly?"

"Something like that, yes. He feels as though it's his fault, even though the reason you lost your memories is because of your power."

"Did anyone ever find out why I had that power?"

"You remember pictures of the real world? You know there's a spike going into the back of your skull so that you can live here?"

"Yes."

"Your spike had a teeny bit speck rust on it. Every so often it would spark and fire some neurons, that's how it worked."

"That sounds…well I didn't expect it to be something like that."

"You're not alone, everyone had surmised it was a software problem, not a hardware issue."

"Hey…so long as we're down here, you want to see your body?"

"No."

"Well I want to see your body."

"That's morbidly perverse."

"Well?"

Stef took a deep breath, stepped forward and grabbed the sheet. As her hand shook, she pulled it down. "Hello," she murmured voicelessly to her corpse.

"That wasn't the reaction I was expecting."

"I'm not afraid or disgusted. If you were expecting girlie screaming, you'll be disappointed. I have a strange relationship with Death, that's all."

"You like tall, dark and scythe-wielding?"

"Not that death. Death with a little d, not death with a big D. Death has been a big part of my life. It began my real life…this isn't making any sense is it?"

"I'm sure that once I have a chance to get philosophical with my situation, I'll feel the same way. After all, you and I are the only two, living, people who have ever gone through this. If I can't understand what you're feeling, probably no one in the world could."

"Give yourself a chance to get used to it before you start dealing with the philosophy of the whole thing."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"I mean, you haven't even done your first shift yet have you?"

"Not yet."

"Well, there's no time like the present. Where would you like to go?"

"Disney World," Vin said without batting

"Oh come on, Disney World?"

"Well, Epcot, but the principle stands."

"Well the principal should let the air out of your brain. That's really where you want to go?"

'Well I would have said Hooters, but I figured you'd object."

"Ok, given the alternative, Disney World it is. Just concentrate and think: 'Shift: Epcot.'"

"Ge…somehow I expected something more. If it's that easy, then why aren't recruits allowed to do it?"

"It's a dangerous power, more powerful than requiring. It's a way to keep them under control."

"That makes sense."

"Well, the Mainframe thinks so."

"So…Epcot?"

"Let's go."

01010101

"Four missing boss, well four plus the corpse" Carlson said, "Frey was unconscious in the restaurant car park."

"Do I even want to know why?" Mero asked as he put a hand to his forehead.

"Well according to his bar bill, he had four 'Silent Nights', so it was just drunkenness, nothing suspicious about him.

"Still, four plus the body."

"Two this week and three last week. Do you think the others have suffered the same fate?"

"You mean, mutilated and eaten?"

"All five of these guys were low-level grunts, why the sudden turn of caring boss?"

"I don't care Carlson," Mero replied as he closed the lid of his laptop. "The thing is, someone is playing with me and I don't like it."

Carlson gave his boss a look and arched and eyebrow.

Mero shook his head, "you know what I mean Carlson. There is a new power and I have the feeling that they are thinking of challenging me."

"Well it won't be a problem. You'll still got all of your regulars, and everyone else will back you with their lives for a little danger money."

"What is your take on this whole thing Carlson? You think it's another exile or some kind of system weapon?"

"Well if it is, and judging by his methods I would think not, you have a serious chance of getting rid of it with no trouble whatsoever."

"I'm rather glad I made extra copies of Smith's hacks. They've already come in handy. His security levels are so high that they let me access areas of the system I didn't even knew existed, even when I was system program."

"And they don't notice?"

"Of course they don't. That was a very good week. I wish I had known it was so easy. Just two bitches and I came out a winner." He noticed Carlson's look, "you don't have to be fucking someone to be their bitch."

"I know," Carlson said a shrug.

"Using that logic, the argument could be made that you are just another one of my bitches." He waited a moment, just long enough for Carlson to look hurt, and then restrain himself from saying anything. "But I wouldn't say that, I merely stated that the argument could be made."

"Yes boss."

"This…new competitor, whoever he is, he knows me. Well, not personally, but he knows my habits. He has some inside intelligence, at least enough to pick my henchmen from a crowd."

"You thinking you have another Judas?"

"I would lay money on it being Motoki."

"And yet, you gave the vamps the bounty. They had no proof and you forked over the cash regardless."

"The creature that they saw, I think that is my new enemy. If this is indeed true, we are dealing with something we have never seen before. A being new to the Matrix."

"Couldn't it just be a shapeshifter? Taking the form for effect?"

"If that were the case, things would be panning out differently."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Prepare, and wait to see what he does next."

0100101

"Teacups go spinny…"

"Stef?"

"Spinny, spinny, spinny."

"Are you ok?" Darth asked worriedly.

Stef braced the sides of her head, "god, I am so dizzy."

"And talking about teacups?"

"The teacup ride. At Disney World. We rode it for like an hour. And made it go twice as fast as normal. I almost hurled."

"A sane person would ask: why?"

"It was Vin's idea."

Darth went as still as a stone and his expression froze, "who?"

Stef didn't notice the look, and put a cushion behind her head. "Oh right, I think my brain's out of alignment. Vin. Greer's transfer worked, he's alive again and going by a different name."

"Oh…"

"And it was his idea to go to Disney World. Well, we started at Epcot."

Darth pouted, "you've never taken me to Disney World," he said, trying to make his voice lighter than what he was feeling.

She turned to look at him, "hey, what's the look for? You didn't think that…oh you did, didn't you? You thought I was having an affair? Don't you…"

"It's not a trust thing, I trust you."

"Then what?" she asked gently as she sat up and took his hand.

"I thought it might have been me."

"Yes Darth it's you. I'm having a hot and sordid affair because I'm sick of having the perfect boyfriend who loves me more than I deserve, understands me better than anyone and looks past my faults. I could never love anyone but you."

"Wow…"

"What could possibly be worth giving you up?"

"Perhaps the hot and sordid part?" he asked with a wry grin.

"You are the only bishoenen I want in my bed. And we are hot without being sordid, which is always preferable."

"Definitely."

"Well, about the preferable, I think my nausea has passed…" she leant up and kissed him, "I've been on G-rated rides all day."

"I'll happily oblige in upping the rating," he whispered as he kissed her back.

000101

"I should have noticed," Jones whispered to himself, "I should have noticed the missing data."

He shook the hair from his eyes and stared deeply into his monitor. He had lost Greer and it was all his fault.

If only he had noticed the missing data earlier, and not mistaken it for unimportant files, there would have been a chance of recovery. There would have been a chance to get back the man he loved.

But because of his error, the Greer he loved was gone.

There was a knock at his door, "come," he called. His heart jumped when he saw it was Greer.

"Hello," he said softly, hoping beyond all reason that Greer would look at him and everything would be all right.

"Hey," Vin said as he flopped into midair and required a chair before he fell to the ground. "Being an agent is pretty good Jonesy."

Jones smiled but his heart was fluttering like a hummingbird. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well, nothing in particular, but can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Can I kiss you?"

Jones' mouth dropped open and he fell off his chair. Vin started to laugh hysterically, "Sorry J, sorry, psyche."

"Ps…ps…psyche?"

"I just wanted to see what you would do when I said that. I didn't know I was going to get such a big reaction or would have brought a camera."

"I don't understand."

"A psyche, a thing someone says or does to get a reaction. I was going to say 'the sky is falling' or 'the rebels have won the war' but this was more subtle, and apparently, more surprising. So…it worked."

Jones felt his heart breaking into tiny pieces again. He nodded, "very good psyche Greer."

"Vin. And I didn't mean to freak you out Agent J."

"Agent J?"

"Well I feel weird calling you Jonesy, so I figured Agent J is the next best thing. Besides, it's out of Men in Black so that means it's cool."

"I see."

"Ok, well, that's all I wanted. Later J," Vin said with a wave as he shifted from the office.

Jones buried his head in his hands and started to cry again.

0101010

"Motoki?"

"Master, it is bad luck to interrupt someone's kata."

"I do apologise," Grimoires said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Well, what can I do for you?"

"Your old employer has had time to contemplate me. I want to meet him."

"That meeting will not go well."

"Of course it won't, but I think it will be my kind of fun."

"Master, if I called you perverse, what would you say?"

"I would be inclined to agree with you. Motoki, there is no true brilliance that is not in some way perverse."

010101

Vin walked down the halls of the Agency, not exactly sure what he was supposed to be doing.

The rebels were quiet, so there was no fighting to be done. Smith and Brown hadn't come near him, Jones was probably mad after his psyche and Stef had disappeared hours ago.

Thus, he was bored out of his newly minted skull.

He'd been thinking about immortality and rebirth for the past hour, and his situation, however true, seemed almost calm and processed.

All of the focus was on his transfer from human to agent, not dead to alive.

Part of him wished that he could remember his missing months that led up to what had made them make the decision to bring him back. No matter how nonchalant they were acting, the process had only been done three times.

He must have been a damned good recruit.

On the other hand, he liked the memory loss, it gave him a freedom that not many people ever get to experience. The freedom of not being weighed down by the past.

"Heya Vin," a voice said.

"Casey right?"

Casey nodded and smiled, "what are you doing running around at this hour?"

"I'm bored," he said with a slight shrug, "nothing to do."

"You're this immortal agent guy and you can't figure out anything to do?"

He studied her carefully and saw the _look_ she was giving him.

"Annie said you were a monster, but you're not, you're a man."

"I'm an agent now."

"So? You're still a man. With a little more stamina probably," she said with a seductive wink. "You want to find out if you're still a man?"

Vin saw the look in her eyes and the subtle body language and knew exactly what she had in mind.

He saw the look in her eyes…Casey's eyes were the ones he wanted to see it in.

But he wasn't going to reject what he had in front of him here and now. There was plenty of time to get the same look in _her_ eyes, but he wasn't going to deny Casey.

"You aren't expecting some kind of long term commitment are you?"

"A few hours, and a lock of your hair."

"Is there a story behind that?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Your room or my office?"

"Your office sounds tempting, but my bed is much more comfortable."

"Beds aren't just made for sleeping," he said under his breath.

"Well, they are," Casey said, close enough to hear him whisper, "sleeping and _sleeping._"

"Let's go," he said. She nodded and led him off toward her room.

010101

"Is there some line about once you go agent, you never look back?" Casey asked breathlessly as she stared up at her ceiling.

"I'd imagine it's all programs, not just agents."

"I've never even seen other programs," she replied. "And I couldn't imagine them doing that anyway. They would have to have some human part…some feeling part to make them as good as you."

"I'm not human."

"You were."

"Not anymore," he said through gritted teeth. He turned and looked at her, "I am better."

"Vin…"

"I'm post-human, I'm more advanced, I am better than human."

"Definitely no argument here."

"The technology that brought me into being is centuries beyond you. I'm like the next step of evolution."

"Like the next link instead of the missing link," she said with a wink, "want to link with me again Mr agent man?"

"I'm up for it if you are."

"Good," Casey said, "let's give your advanced self another full work out."

He scoffed, "I'm holding back, if I let myself perform to the limits I'm capable of, I'd probably kill you."

"It wouldn't be a disagreeable way to go."

"I'm serious Casey, I don't want to hurt you."

"Well I'll give you a work out to the best of my abilities," she thought for a moment, "so what would it be like when two programs got it on?"

"Indescribable probably. But I don't think there's anyone we can question on the subject."

"Worry about them later," she murmured, "worry about us now."


	4. Chapter Four

**Title:** New lives: Chapter Four

**Author:** Stormhawk

010101

"You've got some nerve Motoki," One hissed as the beautiful exile leant against the Twins' SUV. "How do you know I won't just kill you right here and now?"

"What? Didn't the bounty already get collected by those two brain-dead vamps?"

"Your point being?"

"Well if the bounty has already been collected, what incentive is there for you to kill me? And haven't you heard, don't kill the messenger?"

"Message? From who to who?"

"From my new boss to yours," she said as she put a teddy bear on the hood. "The message is: meet us tonight, 10.30 p.m., in the old power station to discuss the state of the world."

"So there is some truth to the whole new power thing. So how many does this new guy have working for him?"

"My master deals in quality, not quantity."

"So therefore, he has almost no one working for him and he has to use scare tactics to make himself seem more powerful than he really is."

"He could kill Mero in the blink of an eye."

"So could we all, but the world doesn't work like that."

"Ever wondered why?"

"Motoki, just be glad you're out, some of us no longer have a choice," Two said as he walked up with Pixel.

Motoki grinned, "that doesn't sound like the kind of thing a dedicated employee would say."

'Shut up Motoki!" One yelled, "evidently, you never knew how Mero's world worked, even when you were a part of it."

"Ooh, I made the ghosts angry, I'd better leave before he sicks Caster on me. Goodbye Twin One…"

"No one calls me that," One muttered.

"One, Two, Pixel," Motoki said as she looked at each of them in turn before she picked up her bear and walked away.

"So how was that?" Motoki whispered to the bear.

"Very good," Grimoires, in the guise of a bear, replied. "Those are examples of your old employer's inner circle employees?"

"Not the fairy so much, but definitely the Twins. Those twins are respected and even feared within this world. Them and Vlad are the ones Mero has the most faith in."

"This is going to be easier than what I thought."

"Motoki?"

Motoki looked up and saw Divelle, a werewolf she had been on a couple of jobs with.

"Moto is that you?"

"No Di, it's just someone who looks like me."

"So how you been? Still working for the frog?"

"Not anymore. You?"

"My last job went bad, I'm between jobs right now."

"And your opinion on his frogness?"

"Like everyone, hate him."

"And if there was someone who had a definite chance of beating him? A new power in the world that wasn't a French pervert?"

"Where is he and how do I get a job?"

"Master?"

"Yes. I shall trail her."

Divelle's eyes goggled, "did that bear just talk?"

"Di…"

"I am not going to work for a teddy."

"The word shapeshifter mean anything to you?" she pulled a card from her pocket, "come here in an house. Be ready for a fight tonight."

"Done deal scissors," Di said as she walked away.

Grimoires assumed his human form as soon as they got to an alley. "You seem to have a lot of faith in her," he commented.

"Divelle is an excellent fighter, human or wolf…she's a werewolf…and we need more than just us two," she flinched as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"I smell fear on you Motoki."

"I was afraid you were going to reprimand me for acting above my place, master."

"Every thing you have done has been acceptable. We need more fighters, but not too many. I don't want a lot of people working for me, just a functioning pack."

"Well that'll spin the world when you beat Mero," she said as they entered the backdoor hallway.

"Is he really that integral to the running of this world?"

"Master, you have no idea. Mero is…well with you in the picture…well the world hasn't ever worked any other way. Before you there were four powers: the system obviously, Mero, Lilith who controls London and Vorateu."

"I have not heard you mention that last one."

"Vorateu is the leader of the exiles from the old world. Their group is 'members only' and they don't have much to do with anything. There is a standing hatred between Mero and Vorateu, but I'm not sure what their history is."

"And Lilith?"

"I was one of Mero's lot, and we didn't have a lot to do with Lilith. We're at war basically, they capture us and they torture us to death, we catch them, we either torture them or leave them to rot in the dungeon."

"I see."

"At least your system is efficient, and you don't have to buy lunch."

"I only have two prisoners, we should go hunting tomorrow," he said as they walked out of the hallway and into his home.

"You may get lucky tonight and catch one of the people that comes with Mero."

"True Motoki, true."

"Di will be here in about an hour, is there anything you need me to do?"

"No, but I shall go prepare and decide how best to test her."

001010

"Boss!" Two yelled as the trio knocked on the door, "boss!"

Carlson opened the door, "the wood's antique, don't piss him off by breaking it."

Pixel froze as she heard the voice, but she couldn't see its owner as both twins were blocking her line of sight and continued to do so as they walked into the office.

And then she saw him, "Brown?" she whispered, but shook her head and walked forward, "who the hell are you?"

"Carlson," he said with a shrug.

"You look like Agent Brown."

Carlson growled lowly in his throat.

"And sound like him too."

"I'm guessing you didn't get the non-existent memo. Boss, can we put out a memo so someone doesn't accidentally shoot me one of these days?"

"Is this really the time for this?" Mero muttered as he drained his wineglass.

"I'm Carlson, I used to be an agent. More than a century ago. Me and the bastard are made out of the same basic code. Any other questions?"

"No…" she replied, still reeling from this revelation.

"Well good."

"Now…" Mero said, "what is the problem?"

Two and One looked at each other while Pixel continued to stare at Carlson. "Motoki is alive and working for this new power," One said, "we're to meet them tonight to talk about the world."

"So he finally decides to show himself. Did you get a name by chance?"

"No luck boss," Two said, "guess we'll find out tonight."

00010101

A backdoor opened and Di knocked on the inside of it. "Anyone home?"

"Come on in Di," Motoki yelled from somewhere within the cavernous mansion, "close the door behind you."

"Welcome to my home," a proper and cultured voice said from beside her.

She turned and saw Grimoires in his human form. He was a tall man with white hair, a tight fitting suit and a loose silk shirt with eyes that tinged on golden.

"Hello sir," she said, having never expected this kind of man had been a teddy bear.

"Come this way," he said as he walked into the next room.

Di was impressed, shapeshifters of course, could make themselves look like anyone and to an extent, anything, but he impressed her. The way he carried himself and the slinky but predatory aura he exuded with every step.

Beautiful, and lethal.

"I don't even know your name yet," Di said. Her accent was mixed, she and her sister had both been London werewolves. Much to the dismay of her fellow countrymen, they had never quite grown out of speaking with a cockney accent.

To this day, her sister was accused of just imitating the accent.

Herself on the other hand had unconsciously grown somewhat out of it, having spent half a decade with a boyfriend from the deep south. The Cajun had a croc tattoo that often from the back of his neck to his ankle, seeing it come to life was an awesome sight.

So now her accent was a strange cockney/Cajun half-breed.

She couldn't place her possible new boss's accent. It was cultured and old, like hearing a dead king speak. Aristocratic. It was odd for a shapeshifter, because they spent most of their lives hiding, they rarely for the chance to, as it were, fall into character.

"My name is Grimoires," he said as he spun around to look at her, his voice ending in a growl. "And this," he said as he started to change, "is my true form."

Di stood stock-still as she watched the handsome man fluidly shift into a large cat/lizard creature.

"By the mainframe," she whispered.

"Does it scare you?" he purred.

"He has a tendency to do that," Motoki said as she sipped some tea at a low table.

"He does? Great…"

"You got to see Alister first, count yourself lucky."

"Who?"

"Alister Greydon, if Bruce Wayne was real, he would be Alister. This guy…well before he became a hot lunch…"

"Lunch?" Di squeaked.

"He tasted strange," Grimoires commented as he licked his lips, "he had several unfamiliar chemicals in his body."

"Drug user," Motoki clarified. "Before he was…replaced, he owned a bunch of companies but he didn't have to do anything more than attend a couple of board meetings a year. And…"

"The rest can wait," Grimoires said, "are you ready to be tested?"

"Tested?"

"You didn't think I would hire you without seeing your skills did you?"

"I thought you said he was different to Mero."

"I told him how Mero decides on the ones he doesn't handpick. He decided it was as good as way as any. It'll be slightly different though."

"Oh?"

"You're going to be fighting him."

"Shit…"

"If you survive three minutes, you're hired."

"What if I kill him?"

"Trust me wolfsbane, you won't."

"So I'm my own bane am I?" Di asked as she started to assume her werewolf form. "Try again scissors."

"Sorry Lupin."

"Grimoire…" Di said, "isn't that a spell book or something? I thin I heard it on Buffy…"

"You're right, but you should be concentrating on this. Master?"

"I'm ready."

"Three…two…one, fight!" Motoki said and smirked to herself.

Divelle beared her fangs and let go a howl.

"I do hope," Grimoires said lazily as he flicked his tail from side to side, "that your bite is a lot better than your bark."

"Dogs bark," Di screamed as she ran at him, "and I'm a wolf!"

Grimoires swiped her aside with nothing more than the movement of his right paw. "You aren't even try. Motoki, I am beginning to become less than impressed."

"Well I'm just getting started," she said as she picked herself up.

0110

Slightly less than three minutes later, Grimoires sat back on his haunches, "it is over."

Di didn't argue, she licked at her wounds as she started to slowly change back to her normal form.

"Well wolf, don't you want to know my verdict?"

"Give her a minute master, you whupped her pretty good."

"Motoki, did you just say 'whupped'? I thought such moronic colloquialisms were beneath you."

"Sorry master, Di says whupped, I pick up bad habits from her."

The beast managed to convey an arched eyebrow, something that was impressive given his bone structure. "Indeed. And why am I giving her a minute?"

"When Di…a lot of wolves as a matter of fact, get injured, their minds revert to a base level. Their animal side helps to keep them alive when they get hurt. It's easier to let the animal care for the wounds, as a 'higher' mind tends toward panic."

"You could have said that with fewer words."

"Master, is my speech pattern annoying you?"

"A wise hunter notices everything around them. The fact that you aren't as succinct as you usually are indicates that your mind is preoccupied."

"Well dug…er…master. I am preoccupied and tense. We're going up against Mero's lot tonight, you've pissed him off so much he'll bring a contingent consisting of half the chateaux as well as some of his contractors."

"You believe my plan is flawed?"

"It's a brilliant show of bravado and to a point, testosterone. Unfortunately, you are dealing with a man who tends to execute people who are annoying him. You're a true challenge, but you aren't running with your pack anymore, it's just me and you."

Grimoires arched his back and walked over to her, "and the wolf."

"Di? This counts as a pass?"

"My intention was never for her to approach winning, merely I wanted to see the extent of her skills. For one of hits world, they are impressive."

"When her higher brain function resumes, I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that."

"It has, and I am."

"I have to say well done wolf. A couple of times you came close to being my pre-battle snack."

"I only warrant a snack? Thanks boss."

"Di…" Motoki said in a warning tone.

"I am not The Merovingian. You shall not refer to be as 'boss'. You will call me master…"

"I do not call anyone master," Di spat.

"Well this is a good time to start."

"Moto…" Di said, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Motoki has no problem with it, why do you?"

Motoki stood up and whispered something into her friend's ear. Di blinked and nodded, "that I can do."

Grimoires looked at his servants, "what's going on?"

"Nothing Grimoires-sama, nothing at all."

Grimoires blinked slowly once, then again, "Grimoire-sama?"

"Translated from Japanese, it means…"

"Motoki, I am as Japanese as you, don't forget that. Wolf, I suggest you clean yourself up, the bath is on the second floor. Motoki's room is two doors down from that, change your clothes as well."

'Yes Grimoires-sama," Di said as she left the room.

Motoki sat down at the low table, "tea?"

"Yes," he said as he shifted to Alister's form. "Now do you want to explain to me why she's calling me Master Grimoires in Japanese instead of English?"

"Master, she has a problem with that word. At least if she says it in Japanese, it doesn't seem the same to her."

Grimoires blew on his tea to cool it, "tell me why. The better I understand the minds of those who work for me, the better I can use them to my own advantage."

"When Di first got exiled, she got separated from her sister and contracted a virus. It made her weak and she was captured by humans and put in a freak show. They treated her badly and she had to call them all 'master' because she was 'nothing more than a freak, no better than an animal.' She didn't escape them for a long time."

"I see. You'd best prepare as well."

"Yes master."

0101010

"So who's coming?" Pixel asked Two as she sat down in the lounge area of the twins' room.

"You, me, the guy who's locked in his room playing my PS2…" he said loudly and pointedly.

One opened his partition, "I'm playing yours because you stood on mine."

"I said I was going to get you a new one…"

"I wanted to finish this game."

"So go play," Two said as he put on his jacket.

"Nah, we'd best be getting down there. If we don't, we won't get a seat."

"Is Carlson coming?" Pix asked quietly.

"You were looking at him like you'd seen a ghost," One commented.

Pix shook her head, "well, he does look exactly like Brown."

"Brown's an evil bastard," Two muttered. "He's also formidable. The closest we've ever come to getting rid of him is when One nicked his back. Not that you or anyone else would ever know, bloody jerks don't scar. The most damage we've ever done to one of them and there's no proof of it."

"I'm sorry guys," she said, "but you know, nothing stays the same forever."

"Yeah," Two groaned as he dropped down beside her, "one day the all mighty Mainframe will get tired of these agents or they'll stop being efficient and we'll get a new bunch of suits to fight. The new bunch will probably be even more impossible to kill. The future's so bright…"

"Not the word I would have used," One said, "well, we going to go?"

"Back to the list," Two said, "you, me, him, boss, the wolf brothers, the vamp duo, ex-suit…"

"You don't like him?"

"He's Brown's twin brother…and twins are something we know about. Ex-suit and ex-rebel. Plus he's a loner and does everything the boss says to the damn letter. What is there to like about him?"

"Feeling's mutual hairy scary," Carlson muttered as he walked up behind them. "Boss is ready to go?"

"Everyone's here already? I thought it would have taken a while."

Carlson shrugged, "us, boss, the wolf boys and the vamp double-act? You guys are the last to arrive, boss sent me to come get you."

The trio looked at each other, "I thought there was going to be more than that," Pix said as she stared at Carlson.

"This whole thing is a power game and boss is calling the new guy's bluff."

"And if we turn up and there's an army like Lilith's?" One asked.

Carlson shook his head, "logistically it's unlikely, tactically it's unsound and it's stupid. If he had an army like that, we wouldn't be meeting in an old powerhouse. There hasn't been a lot of unusual activity to indicate that either."

"So logical agent-boy," Two said.

Carlson scowled, "I haven't been an agent for more than a fucking century. Let. It. Go."

"Ooh…Brown's widdle brother is mad at us," One said as he danced around Carlson.

Carlson smirked, "your momma works for Lilith!"

A look of smouldering hatred crossed over both of the Twin's faces. Carlson took two steps back and then ran. The ghosts phased and chased him. He beat them into Mero's office by less than three feet.

He calmly walked across the office. The twins went solid and followed him, scowling at the ex-agent. Pixel sucked her wings back into her back and shook her head in disbelief. The three men were acting like kids fighting in the playground.

She looked up at the twins, "you guys have a mother?"

"Not now Pixel," Two said.

"Well," Mero said as he stood and looked at his motley crew, "let's go."


	5. Chapter Five

**Title:** New lives: Chapter Five

**Author:** Stormhawk

0101001

"Bye Vin," Casey murmured as he left her room. Their couple of hours had so far turned into a two-night stand, how long they would keep the clandestine affair going hadn't been decided yet.

Vin smiled to himself as he walked down the hall, the past couple of days had been the best in his life. Now he was just itching for a fight, to see what he was capable when it came that.

As he turned a corner toward his office, a door opened and he walked straight into it. "Ow…" he muttered as he rubbed his nose. "Anyone get he number of that redwood?"

"I can't believe you walked into my door," Stef muttered, "highly developed senses and all."

"I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Getting beat up hurts, falling out a three story window stings, getting hit by a truck leaves a mark for a while. Having a building collapse on you hurts, walking into a door does not hurt."

"I think I'm bleeding."

"Where?" she asked as she leant up to look.

"Gotcha," he said with a smile.

"Oh grow up Vin."

"You're actually here tonight," he commented as he leant against the wall. "You weren't here last night."

Stef blinked and let a small smile play across her lips, in his opinion, it made her look cut. "Oh, I was out. Did you want something?"

_For you to look at me like Casey does._ He thought.

"No, nothing really."

_Your office or mine? _He thought coyly.

"Oh, ok. Well I just finished up some work."

_So now you've got time to play._

"Boring or interesting?"

"Just a little project I'm working on. Same software as the training simulations, holodeck kind of stuff. Then I got interrupted."

"Oh, what happened?"

I have never realised until now how much I… 

He blinked a few times, his thoughts were starting to get really powerful.

_There's plenty of time, we're both immortal. _

"Exile activity, it got delegated to me, which his weird cause Brown usually leaps at the chance. But he suggested I take you along."

"Yeah?"

"According to his logic, it's worth giving up a fight with exiles if there's a chance either of us will die."

"Um…I know what an exile is. I didn't, now I do."

"Your brain fills in the gaps sometimes, mine used to do that too. It's weird at first, then it becomes normal."

"It seems there's a lot of things are going to become normal. You fine to give me some pointers, teach me what I don't know?"

_And I'll be happy to return the favour in whatever way I can. And I mean whatever way._

She smiled, "sure, but can we deal with the exiles first? They don't tend to stay put for too long."

"Let's go."

_That's what I said to Casey before I rocked her world. I so want to rock your world as well. God, I hope these feelings aren't one sided. _

"Little warning first, they're in a firewalled area, which means you can die as easily as a human. When you're in there, bullets do kill, knives do cut, so watch yourself. I'll watch your back too."

"I'll watch yours as well, and I can take care of myself."

_I'll watch your back, but my eyes will probably slip lower than that._

Stef shifted them to the edge of the firewall. "Gear up," she said, "clothes you are most comfortable to fight in, gun and some spare ammo."

"Yes ma'am."

He required himself into civvys, paramilitary pants, sleeveless black top and heavy combat boots.

Stef just required herself a combat jacket and tucked a couple of spare clips into an inside pocket. "We go in as recon first. See what the situation before we go in shooting."

"Isn't it our job to kill exiles and let the chips fall where they may?"

"That's what agents are supposed to do. But if you do everything by the manual, you never win. If the world played by the rules all the time, we'd both be in our cold graves."

"Cool. I'm up for a little anarchy."

_And I prefer everything hot. _

"It's not anarchy, we're just being smart. There could be a couple of hundred of them in there. That wouldn't be good odds." She stepped over the firewall, "ready to walk on the wild side?"

_With you, anytime._

He stepped over, "oooh, what was that?"

"You just lost contact with the system. It's like cutting the umbilical cord, only less interesting."

They both walked toward the power station. "Roof or sewer? I'll let you choose."

"Roof. I wouldn't consign myself to the dark, dank sewer voluntarily."

She smirked, "the sewer is dry, this section has been cut off for years. However, it has just been raining, the roof will be all slimy. I let you pick first, I'm not swapping."

"You are pure evil."

_The kind of evil I can just imagine in leather._

"Aren't I though?" she asked with an innocent smile as she lifted the manhole cover and jumped down.

"Pleasant?" he called.

"Mostly dry," she answered, "a little run off though."

"I'll scope things out on the roof, and we'll meet up somewhere inside."

"Be quiet and be careful."

"You too," he said as he slipped the manhole cover back into place.

010010

Mero and his exiles stood in front of the door leading into the old power factory. "So who's going in first?" he asked.

"Anyone bring straws?" Abel asked.

"They've got dreadlocks, why do we need straws?" Abel asked.

One ghosted in self defence and Two twirled his razor, "I'm sorry wolf, what did you say?"

"How about these?" Pix said as she withdrew a handful of pixie sticks from her pocket.

Mero shook his head in disbelief, "I am trusting my life to you people?"

"We're all getting danger money for this," Carlson said, "what's the difference?"

"If it's all the same, suit, then you go first," Two said. "It'll be no great loss if you get taken out."

Carlson puffed out his chest and walked up to Two, "funny, I was thinking the same thing about you. But you've got that pesky phasing subroutine don't you? How about I rip it right out of you?"

The minute the words were out of his mouth, Carlson felt a hand on his shoulder and a razor at his throat. "Don't threaten my brother or I'll cut your throat."

"That is ENOUGH!" Mero yelled. "The ghosts will take point. The vamps will follow, I will go next and Carlson and the wolves will fan out behind me."

"Jeez boss, when did you become a tactician?"

"The same time you lot started acting like children."

"But it was only those three," one of the vampire said, "why are you blaming the rest of us?"

"Cease talking…"

"What do I do?" Pixel asked.

"Oh you, well fairy, go to your tiny form, fly up and get a good vantage point and see where things go from there."

Pixel smiled, "coolies, I like sniping duty."

"Since when?" Two asked.

"Dunno, but I do."

"Dear god," Mero said, exasperated already, "open the door right now or you all take a pay cut."

There was a chorus of "sorry boss," and then One opened the door.

They walked in and found the place empty.

"Well," Mero said, "this is unexpected."

0110

"They're here master," Motoki whispered, "now?"

"Yes Motoki, now."

Motoki and Di walked out into the middle of the open area. "Hello Mero," Motoki said as she leant against an ancient generator.

"I knew it was you."

"What about me boss?" Di asked, "did you know it was me?"

Mero arched an eyebrow, "Divelle? You are messed up in this sorry joke as well?"

"Sorry to disappoint Mero."

"How about I offer you a contract, here and now?"

"I think my new employer might find that a little awkward."

" 'Employer?'" Motoki asked in a whisper.

"Can't help it," Di answered, "his speech pattern is infectious."

"You are a conduit for speech patters aren't you? You freaky exile."

"Divelle. Ten million to dispatch Motoki. Name your price for your employer."

"It would have to be a lot more for me to kill Motoki. Money comes and goes but pissing you off is priceless."

Motoki sighed happily, "that could be a Mastercard ad."

"And you think I'm freaky?"

"Master?" Motoki called, "I believe the stage is yours."

Grimoires, in the form of Alister, marched out. "The Merovingian," he purred, "somehow I was expecting something different. Perhaps green, amphibious and only a few inches long. You are most unimpressive."

Every person in the room smiled.

"And you? You know so much about me and I don't even know your name."

"My name is Grimoires."

"Is he going to change?" Di asked in a whisper.

"Not yet. This is a fly by the seat of your pants kind of thing. Master can plan, but unknowns introduce chaos."

Mero scoffed, "you take your name from a nonexistent spell book. It is the kind of thing the stupid rebels do."

"And you hardly look like a red-haired descendant of Christ."

"Touche."

"Boring…" One whispered, "is there going to be a fight or a pissing contest?"

"Probably both," Abel answered, "put two arrogant and pompous guys together and they argue the night away while their minions fight to the death."

"Sounds like fun," One replied, "let's make sure Carlson gets caught in the cross fire." He turned for a spiteful rebuttal, but Carlson had disappeared.

0110

Carlson had slipped behind some rusted equipment and was circling around, not intending to get caught in a bottleneck when the fighting broke out.

Some dust spiralled down from the ceiling and he looked up. He could vaguely make out the shape of someone crossing the old and holey roof. What he could see through the skylights didn't give him a very clear idea of who it was though.

He scanned the intruder and shook his head, "so they made another one." He was surprised, and even more so because Mero hadn't mentioned anything about it to him.

Usually he was the first to hear about anything concerning the agents. He had been an agent. He was never allowed to forget that.

Never.

He gritted his teeth and shook his head again. More than a century had passed and he was still ridiculed for something he had had no control over. It wasn't his fault he had been an agent.

Nor was it his fault that he had helped the first 'One' and he had done everything he could to distance himself from, well…himself.

Brown.

His other self.

His twin.

His 'big brother'.

He hated him with every fibre of his being. His being…it wasn't fair, he wasn't him. He. Was. Not. Brown.

An yet, no one ever gave him a chance to prove himself. Mero did, but only because it suited his purposes. Some exiles who had never encountered Brown, but he didn't know many of them. And even then, often his reputation preceded him.

He had considered getting a new face…and a while new body. Full construct redesign.

Mero had disagreed, and his word was law. No matter how much he disliked it, he was under his thumb, much more so than he had ever been under the system's control.

He was wrapped around the Frenchman's pinkie finger. Every word he said had to be done as though it were set in stone. What he said was what happened, no one else – especially not those prize Twins or his uber-but-under-used weapon Vlad – had to contend with control like that.

_Follow my orders._

That was what he had said.

_Follow my orders, little agent, or die. _

He continued through the power station.

0110

"Well, I see we have nothing more to say," Mero said, "kill them."

Before all hell could break loose, Grimoires held up his hands, "first, let me get my game face on."

He reverted to his real form. There was a thump as Cain passed out.

"Wake up!" Abel yelled as he kicked him.

Mero nodded, "I suspected you were no ordinary exile."

Grimoires smiled, "you have no idea how truly unique I am."

"Let's end this boss," Two said.

"You can mount his head," Abel said with a literally wolfish smile.

"I like that idea," he looked at his employees, "go."

There was a second of silence, then the minions of the two powerful men ran at each other. Grimoires leapt above the fray and headed straight for Mero. The Frenchman turned and ran.

0100

"Guess that's my cue," Carlson muttered and ran toward the sounds of battle.

Meanwhile, on the roof above, Vin also heard the sounds from the fight and tried to peak through the skylight to see what was going on.

Unfortunately, the glass was old and gave under his weight. Panic passed through his mind, but left a fleeting second later. Controlling himself, he grabbed onto a support pole, swung himself around and landed on top of a generator. He then jumped the forty or so feet to the ground, landing in a cat-like crouch.

He headed for the battle.

0101

The sewers hadn't been the preferable option, or so Stef had found out. There were hardly any ways up to the power factory, as most of them had been concreted over.

She climbed up the next ladder and elbowed the manhole cover, thankfully, this one gave.

She pushed it aside and as she went to climb out, she got a boot in the face. "Oi!" she muffled as the leg attached to the heavy boot was lifted.

"Oh," Carlson said, "you're here."

Stef climbed out of the sewer, "ever considered going on a diet?"

"Ever considered not opening a manhole cover in the middle of a fight?"

"Great, I brought a newbie into a civil war. We are talking war aren't we? Or just more employer/employee disagreements?"

"It's a skirmish, now get out of my way," he said as he pushed her aside, "the others are a bunch of useless gits."

"Go on then, go fight."

"Keep your head down, it's probably better if you two just leave."

"You saw Vin?"

"On the roof," Carlson said as he ran off.


	6. Chapter Six

**Title:** New lives: Chapter Six

**Author:** Stormhawk

01010

Vin heard running, and then a man barrelled into him. The man fell to the floor and then a creature leapt over his head and landed on top of the man.

For a moment, Vin thought it was a raptor. Then he looked closer and almost mistook it for a lion, then he realised it was neither.

The beast lowered its head and bit the man's arm. There was a sickening sound as flesh and muscle were rendered from bone. The man screamed and didn't stop.

Vin slowly got up and watched with the same kind of slow-motion perception as a person in the middle of a car accident.

When he heard a shotgun blast, everything caught up to speed

The creature's side was hit, and it shied away while a man he would have was Agent Brown helped the injured man up and pulled him away from the fighting.

A moment later, the creature appeared from the shadows, "when I caught you scent, I thought it was too good to be true."

Vin went to reach for his gun, but the creature shook his head. "You are different to when I saw you Vincent Greer, you are not as wild as you were then."

"You know me?" he asked in surprise, "but I don't even know who you are."

"I scarcely think you know who you are, you are undoubtedly Vincent Greer, but then again young hunter, you are not the same man who fell into my world."

"Your world?"

"You've undergone a change haven't you? You no longer smell entirely human."

"I'm not human. I'm better. I'm an agent now."

"Indeed? That explains some of what I'm seeing."

Vin wasn't frightened, he knew he should be, but the creature was mesmerising, "what else do you see?"

"When you came into my world, you were trapped and confined. A hunter unable to express his predator's soul."

"My predator's soul," he whispered.

"And the next time I saw you, you were as wild as an animal, rabid and covered in the blood of your fallen."

"You mean when I went insane? I don't remember that, and I don't remember you."

"You were being controlled by your insanity, expressing you predator's soul without thought. This also, doesn't work. You must be free to express your predator's soul, but you must be in your right mind as well."

"Who are you?"

"You mean my name or my relationship to you?"

"You aren't giving me any straight answers!"

"I'm not sure you deserve any yet. Follow me."

0100

Stef skirted around the edges of the power plant, trying to observe without being observed.

Whatever was going on, and for once, she had no idea what, it was none of their business. Hers to an extent, though after their last encounter Mero probably wouldn't be offering her a job any time soon. But it wasn't defiantly wasn't any of Greer's business. Vin's. Vin, his name was Vin now.

If he got killed, did that mean he was a failure? She shook her head, she just had to find him and keep him out of harms way.

Carlson was there, Mero was there, she had heard the Twins and wolf howls. There were probably others there, plus whoever was fighting for the other side. She idly wondered who they were fighting, there weren't exactly a lot of enemies that Mero had a problem dealing with.

"Oi," someone said.

She turned and saw Carlson standing there, and he had Mero slumped at his side, his arm bleeding profusely.

"You got any medical training? They didn't exactly train me to be a nursemaid."

She went to reply but stopped herself, "why would I help you? You poisoned my cookies."

"This will put you back in his good books, be smart."

"Can't promise anything special."

"Just take him down to the sewer and stop the bleeding. We should have brought the whole bloody chateaux with us, he thought we were calling the bluff."

"You mean someone outsmarted him? Crap…"

"Frightening year? The guy is a freak too. Some shapeshifter we've never seen before, like a cat-dragon or something," Carlson said as he handed over Mero and draped his arm over her shoulders.

"Fuck…you mean like a cat mixed with a lizard?"

"Something like that. Wait, you know what this thing is?"

"I need to find Vin."

"I'll knock him unconscious and bring him. Don't let the boss die," Carlson said as he ran off again.

Stef looked at The Merovingian, his face was going white and a little part of her was actually worried. A part comparable to the brain of an ant, but still a part.

"Come on Mero," she said as she dragged him toward the manhole cover. "And if you get delirious, I'll have to slap you, you're losing a lot of blood. Hey, this could be fun."

He muttered something and then his head slumped.

0100

Vin stood by Grimoires as they observed the fight. "So what do you think young hunter?"

"Why is it two against many?"

"And yet, the two are winning. What do you think?"

"I think it's beautiful."

"As do I."

"I still don't know what's going on."

"My name is Grimoires. It's not important what's going on, only that it is."

Vin nodded, somehow that made sense. It was hunter's logic.

"I can tell you what's different."

"Yes, I want to know why I'm different now than back then. I know I'm different, but no one can tell me why."

"You were trapped before, you aren't now. Before you were afraid to express your predator's soul. And now, you are your predator's soul. A pure hunter, you are what you should have always been."

Grimoires swung his tail and knocked him to the floor. Vin hit the concrete hard and blacked out. Grimoires scrapped his clawed across Vin's face and lapped at the blood. "You still taste the same. You are your predator's soul, but you have not fully awoken yet."

0100

Slap!

"Stay awake Mero," Stef muttered as she tore his jacket into strips to bandage his wound. A whole section of his arm had been missing, it hadn't been pretty, and she had his blood all over her hands. She had taken off her jacket and rolled up her shirtsleeves to minimise what she got over her.

"Wine?" he asked for the fourteenth time.

"I don't have any and I don't need you anymore loopy," she said as she tied the strip into a knot. "Best use for Armani ever. This is the first time you've been injured isn't it?"

"Mmm…"

"Stay conscious!" she ordered sharply and he opened his eyes a little. "I know it must hurt like hell, but you need to stay conscious as long you can. If you don't, you die, it's really that simple."

"No…"

"No what?"

"Been hurt, Mo…mo…moo? Motok…ee stabbed me, putain."

"Maybe if you didn't automatically call every woman a bitch your life would be different. Cutting down on your other bad habits wouldn't hurt either, but that's not very likely."

"Per…Pers…"

"Purse? Perse?"

He vaguely nodded, "hurt me." He lifted his good arm and placed his hand on his chest, "here."

"She stabbed you too?" Stef asked lightly. A surprising sober look told her he wasn't joking.

"Heart," he mumbled, "hurt my heart."

She was totally taken back by this, "you are completely delirious aren't you? There'd be no way you'd be saying this if you didn't think you were going to die."

"Before I met her, she loved Vor…two, she loved him sooo much."

Stef picked up an old plastic bottle, half filled it with water that was coming in through a hole in the roof, shook it up, tipped it out and refilled it. "It's reasonably clean, drink."

Looking after Mero? She would have thought that was as unlikely as an exile playing nurse to Brown…oh wait…that did happen. "Twisted," she muttered, "the world is twisted."

She looked back at Mero, "I didn't think you had a heart to hurt. All offence intended, you aren't a nice guy."

"Before I was," he said as his head rolled to the side. "Before I know that power was good. That power didn't hurt like love, with power you can be the one that hurts others."

"You're getting delirious again, I may just slap you for the hell of it."

0100

"Di!" Motoki yelled as the wolf was swamped by the other two werewolves and one of the vampires. Unfortunately, she had problems of her own, fending off one of the twins.

The other was trying to get an unconscious fairy to safety. Every one of the fighters was injured – everyone except for the twins – but even they were beginning to tire.

A roar ripped through the power plant as Grimoires jumped down into the fray. He knocked the twin she was fighting to the ground and bit into his shoulder.

One yelled in pain as Grimoires pulled his head away, taking a huge chunk of his shoulder with him. Grimoires went to strike again, but One phased through the floor.

"Help Di," Motoki said to her master as she tried to catch her breath.

"Abel!" Cain yelled as his brother fell to the floor, Di had ripped a hole in his stomach.

"Come on!" Di howled at Cain and the other vamp, "you want some too?"

"Stop," Grimoires said, "let them leave. They are unworthy opponents."

Cain looked warily at them and then dragged his brother toward the door.

Carlson ran out from behind a generator and helped him. "Where is everyone?" he asked Cain as the vampire kept an eye on Grimoires, Motoki and Di.

"Pix got knocked out, Two was getting her to safety. The other vamp got stabbed and went into hiding. Where's the boss?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. He's safer than what he would have been up here. He got hurt though."

"Bad?"

"Relatively," Carlson replied, "he'll live though."

A bright light shone into the power plant, "see if you can find my brother," Two said from the backdoor. "He's probably fine, but she could be unconscious."

Carlson gave Two a look of utter disinterest, "take your girlfriend home then come back and find him yourself. You're off your rocker if you think that I would do you a favour."

"Suit yourself,' Two said, "suit."

The minions went through the door and then it closed. Carlson stood quietly for a moment then headed back toward his boss.

He heard a growl, looked down and saw Vin. A chill running down his spine made him look up. All he saw was a pair of glowing eyes retreating back into shadow.

1011

"You still alive Mero?"

"That, is a relative question."

"Coherence is a good sign."

"I loved her. Once. I truly did. But one night, it wasn't my name she called, it was his. She had never loved me. I had just been a means to an end. Bitch. She used me. I became what I am because of her."

With that, his head slumped and he closed his eyes. She pressed two fingers to his neck, he was fine – considering his injuring – just unconscious.

She heard something and looked up, picking up her gun, she followed the sound through the sewer.

"God save…Queen…"

She turned a corner and saw One laying in the middle of the sewer, drenched in run off, and with a big chunk missing out of his shoulder.

"One?"

He ever-present sunglasses were gone, his pristine jacket was covered in mud, blood and slime and his eyes were glazed. He was also singing to himself.

"Hey One, phase already. Don't lie there in pain if you don't have to."

He blinked slowly, "can't…"

"You don't exactly have a lot of choices, there are no doors down here and you're hurt really bad."

"Monster…real monster…"

"I think I know what you're dealing with, unfortunately the only guy who ever went up against one of these things doesn't remember anything about it. I need to get up there and find him."

"He's fine."

She quickly stood up, "Carlson! Took you long enough. Would you believe me if I said I missed you?"

He smiled, "not really. Your partner is fine. Unconscious, with a couple of cuts. He's upstairs and starting to come to. Boss ok?"

"Delirious as you can get, I've pretty sure he thought he was going to die but he'll live, this one, on the other hand…"

"Phase you lazy git," Carlson said.

"Bugger off," One said through gritted teeth, "I can't. It doesn't work. I phased and it didn't heal."

"Is that possible?" Stef asked Carlson.

"Ghosts are more resilient than any other type. They're almost as good as your bunch kid."

"I have a bunch?" she muttered, "I'm not so sure about that."

"Their egos are their weak spots. Your momma work for Lilith!"

"He has a mother?"

One did nothing.

"Weird, that worked before. I'm happy to leave him here to die. We have this mutual seething hate-seething hate relationship. It's piss boss off though, if he died. So I guess I'll have to get him out of here or get his brother to come down here and heal him."

"They can heal each other?"

"They can heal anyone who's hurt…any program that is. They usually don't though, if it's anyone but each other or themselves, it gives them a major headache."

"Oh."

Carlson crouched, "get the hell up you lazy ghost bastard. Boss is in as bad a shape as you and he's not used to pain. He could die, and if he dies…" he leant in close and whispered, "you know what happens if he dies, we never get these damn subroutines out." He stood up and held his hand down, "either you get up right now or I'm leaving you here to die."

One steeled himself, grabbed Carlson's hand and pulled himself to his feet. He shrugged off his jacket and started limping down the sewer.

"Jeez Carlson, what'd you say to him?"

"I said I'd shave off his dreadlocks and have the boss reprogram him to break out in a rash whenever he wore white."

"He was singing 'God save the Queen' it was kind of scary…"

"Trust me, it would have been 'God save Queen' as in the band. I'd better get the boss out of here."

"Carlson?"

"What?"

"How'd you know I'd help you? Last time with you guys was, well…"

"Interesting?"

"That's the word I was looking for."

"It was all just a game. It had various degrees of success and failure. But I know you know he's important to the balance, that's why."

"It is kind of hard to imagine the world without him."

"Well the new guy is making a go of it. Free advice though, and you didn't hear this from me. You have never outsmarted him. You have surprised him, but you've never been ahead of him. You are a game."

Stef stepped back like she'd been slapped, "what?"

"Watch your back, that's all I'm saying."

"Why?"

"Just a head's up from someone who knows the world isn't a nice place for people who fly under more than one flag." He turned to leave.

"Carlson?"

"What?"

"You owe me a cookie."

He turned back and smirked, "not on your life kid. Go find your boyfriend before he wakes up." With that, he jogged away.

"He's not my boyfriend. Jerk."

She climbed up to the power station floor, fairly relaxed, by Carlson's attitude, the fighting was over.

"Vin?" she called as she looked around the factory.

"Stef? Where are you?"

There was a howl from the darkness and Grimoires leapt down from a generator. He tackled her to the ground, knocking her gun away. He lifted his paw and slashed it across her back.

She screamed in pain and as suddenly as he had appeared, he melted back into the shadows. She slowly started to get to her hands and knees.

"Stef!" Vin yelled as he saw her. "Are you ok?" he asked as he knelt beside her.

"Jabberwocky, it really was a Jabberwocky."

"You're hurt," he said as he helped her to stand.

"So are you," she said as she move his face to the side to see his scratches.

"Not as bad as you."

"This isn't bad. I've had much worse, this is just a scratch…ok, a painful scratch," she said as she tried to take a step.

"You called it a Jabberwocky."

"No, you did, it's one of those lost memories of yours. You encountered these things in this beta-Matrix that was glitching. The story is in a file, but I'll be damned if I can work out how it got here."

"Take off your shirt."

"Huh?"

"You're bleeding badly, I need to have a look."

"We'll be back at the Agency soon the firewall isn't that far away."

"I'd like to slow it, or something, you were the one who said firewalled areas were dangerous."

"This is only to look at my wounds right?"

Vin smiled, "we're tire, been fighting and we're hurt, what else could possibly be on my mind?"

_I hope I look sincere,_ he begged silently.

"If I see you smiling, I'll slap you."

"Scout's honour," he said as he put a hand to his heart. "You've got blood on your pants."

"Well it was on my hands," she said as she pulled her shirt from her pants, "but I washed it off. It's not mine, it came from an exile."

She undid up to her middle button and painfully pulled it up, "is this enough?"

"No. Stop worrying. I'm trying to play doctor, not _play doctor_."

She nodded and undid the last four buttons and he slipped it off her shoulders. She shivered as it came off, having on ever been in this state of undress with Darth before.

He handed it to her, "don't feel embarrassed, I'm only looking at the scratches."

"I'm not embarrassed."

"I heard you blush."

She clutched the shirt to her chest, "how's it look?"

He put his left hand on her shoulder and leant in for a closer look. She shivered when she felt his hot breath on her back. "Most then these ones are ok," he said as he slid his hand down her back, careful the avoid the wounds.

"This one, on the other hand," he said as he traced the outside of one on her lower back, "isn't too good. It's pretty deep."

He put his hands on her pants and pulled them down just a little. She gasped as his hands touched her hips, "Vin…"

"This cut has gone into your side, give me your shirt."

_I should get an award for self-restraint._

She swallowed and handed it down to him. He scratched his nose and as he did, some of the blood on his hand went onto his lips. His first instinct was to wipe it away, but he froze and slowly licked his lips.

"What's going on down there?"

Vin shook his head, "I'm going to pack off this wound with your shirt, otherwise it'll get worse." He rolled it into a ball and pressed it against the cut, causing her back to arch in pain, he tucked the end of it into the waistband of her pants.

He then stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. His hands felt almost drawn to her skin, like magnetism. He swore they almost stuck there, like two opposite poles that didn't want to be apart.

_What an appropriate metaphor, the poles of the magnet. All I want is a sign, a reaction, something…_

Stef relaxed, at first she had felt really uncomfortable, but now she was very comfortable. She could feel his body heat and she was fighting an urge to lean back against him, an idle thought added an embrace to the picture in her mind.

She jolted herself, these weren't good thoughts. She shouldn't be having thoughts anything like these about Vin. She shouldn't be this relaxed, he didn't remember his relationship so he was – no pun intended – a free agent, maybe he thought she was too. She had to set him right about this…

His hands left her shoulders, he had sensed her discomfort. As much as he was attracted to her like a gravity well, this really wasn't the best time. No matter the thoughts running round his head, they were both injured. He didn't want to rush things, they were both immortal.

_Still, damn, we've both still got adrenalin to burn. _

He stepped back and pulled his shirt off, he handed it over her shoulder, "put this on till we get back."

He drew in a sharp breath, they were both more or less half naked. But the second she started to pull his shirt over her head, his thoughts of fantasy regrettably faded.

"Thank you," she whispered as they headed for the door.

He wanted to say something, or do something. But he couldn't, there were too many confused thoughts running through his head. Too many things he was thinking, especially about what the creature had said to him.

And why he had licked his lips to taste her blood…it was morbid and it was sick. What came close to scaring him was the fact that her blood had tasted sweet. Did that make him some kind of monster?

He turned and smiled down at her, he'd leave those thoughts for another time. For the moment, he was happy to appreciate how well his top fit her curves.

01010101

"But why did we just let them go?" Di raged as she walked around the room.

"Why indeed?" A French voice asked.

Both Di and Motoki's heads snapped toward Grimoires, who now wore the form of The Merovingian.

"Master?" Motoki asked.

"Everything I wanted to happen tonight happened. Even more because Vincent Greer was there. I think this form will be very useful, don't you?"

Both women nodded.

"Did you get One's self image as well?" Motoki asked.

"Better," Grimoires said as he phased.


End file.
